The sun was shining, the rugby Gods were smiling, and after a near biblical period of floods, storms and plagues, the Klem Oval was officially opened on Saturday 12 March, 2022.

In attendance… an estimated 500+ supporters including the crème de la crème of local rugby. Players representing the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00’s, 2010s and the current mob, along with supporters from across all of that period, were on hand… including no fewer than four Dirty Red Wallabies… Geoff Richardson, John Klem, Peter Lucas and Simon Poidevin.

They were all in attendance to see the opening and naming of Rugby Park’s second oval, which had sat dormant and unplayable since it was acquired in 1967.

But it was in mint condition for the big day, possibly the best playing pitch in Goulburn many commented, ready to be named in honour of one of the most notable names in Goulburn Rugby, the Klem family.

A day of rugby activities for all ages followed, beginning with a Brumbies junior clinic on Poidevin Oval.

Following that, the formal opening ceremony took place on Klem Oval. Club Patron and Life Member Simon Poidevin acted as emcee and introduced Goulburn Mulwaree Mayor Peter Walker, Federal Member for Hume (and former Dirty Red) Angus Taylor and Brumbies Deputy CEO and GM of Community Rugby Craig Leseberg. State Member for Goulburn, Wendy Tuckerman, was unable to attend due to the wedding of her son, however she received much praise from several speakers for the State Governments funding of the project.

All speakers spoke not only about the exceptional quality of the ground, but of its capacity to now host large major rugby events, making the Goulburn Rugby Park facility the envy of all country rugby clubs.

Peter Walker and Angus Taylor also spoke of the importance of volunteers in not only achieving goals such as the completion of the club’s second oval, but in the ongoing week to week running of a club.

Speaking on behalf of the Klem family, Scott Klem honoured his father, his brother Matt and all those who had played significant roles in the ongoing development of Rugby Park, and in particular Klem Oval.

DINNER PHOTOS: Emily Stanberg

The dinner at Veolia Stadium continued the celebratory vibe with host Andrew Logan emceeing, and with Simon Poidevin hosting a panel of players from across the ages. Nine Life Members who’d received that honour over the last four years also received official recognition in front of the 300 strong event, along with Life Members ties.

Trudi Klem and Kelly Anable received recognition (and flowers) for the hours of hard work they put into organising the weekend and there was also a special presentation of a mounted jumper to Matt Klem.

A raffle followed, then the cutting of the official cake … a phenomenally accurate rendering of rugby park… made by former Dirty Red Chris Griffin.

Then followed dancing, tall storytelling and a one of the greatest nights for the club in many years.

THE MATCHES

PHOTOS: Pete Oliver

Klem Invitational Team v The ACT Vets Team

While scoring is not encouraged in Golden Oldies matches, if there WAS a score in the match between the Klem Invitational XV and ACT Veterans it would have been something like 35-10.

The name “Klem Invitational XV” was something of a misnomer as they had something like 40 players in total. Klems made up 11 of the team alone!

Arriving with three players short of a side, ACT Vets were considerably outnumbered but numerous players from the Klem side switched affiliations to help balance the game.

Fittingly it was a Klem that scored first… William Klem, and a Klem that scored last. And it was a Klem that scored almost all of the tries in between except three. Remember that play that went Klem, to Klem, to Klem, to Klem? It was every second play.

Despite playing on a very hot day for rugby, the years had treated many of the players well and they looked like they could still be kitting up to play grade footy. On the other hand, some of the players… let’s just say it was a very hot day.

The ACT Veterans didn’t mind that Klem side had a lot of underage golden oldies and a very deep bench and played the match in the perfect spirit of the day.

It was a great first match to be played on Klem Oval, and set a great tone for the entire day and night.

Trial: Goulburn Dirty Reds v Bowral Blacks

Before the match, Mik Webber made it clear that the team needed to treat the match like a club round. Simon Poidevin, popping his head into the change shed, mentioned that the last game he played for the Dirty Reds was a grand-final against the Bowral Blacks which Goulburn won by 18-6, adding his encouragement that they can do it again.

Both messages were clearly heard with the Reds winning by 40-14.

Played over three 25 minute thirds, Goulburn led 19-9 at the end of the first section with tries to Alec Palmer, Jack Burke and Henry Cooper and a conversion each to Jackson Reardon and Mik Webber.

At the end of the second section, Goulburn was up by 26-7 with a converted try to each team (for Goulburn, a Ben Todkill try with a Webber conversion).

Goulburn ran in twice more in the third section… a second try for Todkill and one for Cooper Camden-Smith in his first hit out in senior rugby with Reardon kicking the conversions for both of those tries.

The Bowral Backs also added a converted try in a strong finishing final period of play.

THE KLEMS

The decisions to name the oval after a family rather than an individual signifies the broad involvement of the Klem name in Goulburn Rugby.

Dave Klem had been the engine of Goulburn Rugby throughout the 60s and seventies, managing the first-grade side and lining up to help with every task he could.

His sons Matt and Scott, along with Greg Hucker, led the construction of Poidevin Oval that was opened back in 1996.

Matt would go on the become the club’s longest-serving president, a frequent Monaro representative, a four-time Clubman of the Year (and that award is now named in his honour). Matt was also president that oversaw the building of the club’s expanded Clubhouse in 2011.

Dave and Matt are also only one of two father-son Life member pairs in the club’s long history.

John Klem, Dave’s brother, toured with the Wallabies in the 1960s and his sons Hugh, Angus and Charlie also occasionally pulled on the Dirty Red jumper.

RUGBY PARK MILESTONES

• 1967 – Acquisition of Crown Reserve #86639 for the Goulburn Rugby Club by legendary president John Osmond.
• March 1, 1968 – Goulburn Rugby Park was gazetted for public recreation use
• March 23, 1996 – Opening of Poidevin Oval (whose development was spearheaded by Matt Klem, Scott Klem and Greg Hucker)
• March 19, 2011 – Opening of new Goulburn Rugby Club House
• March 12, 2022 – Opening of Klem Oval (in honour of so many Klems over the years including the club’s longest serving president Matt Klem, his dad and long-time manager and stalwart Dave Klem, former Wallaby John Klem and Matt’s brother Scott Klem who also played a key role in the opening of Poidevin Oval).